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Advertising meetings of creditors on the AFSA website

Inspector-General Practice Direction 21 explains advertising meetings of creditors on the AFSA website.

On this page

  1. Introduction

    1. The purpose of this document is to outline the regulatory role of the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy and the obligation on trustees and controlling trustees to lodge with the Inspector-General a notice of the first meeting of creditors called under section 73 or Part X of the Bankruptcy Act 1966.

    2. The legislative framework

    3. The requirement to advertise the first section 73 or Part X meeting of creditors is contained in section 75-40 of the Insolvency Practice Rules (Bankruptcy) 2016 (“the Rules”).  Section 75-40 states:

    4. The notice must state the following information:
      1. name of the regulated debtor
      2. purpose of the meeting
      3. time, date and place for the meeting
      4. submission deadline for particulars of a creditor’s debt or claim and proxies for the meeting
      5. name and contact details of the trustee.
    5. Subsection 75-40(4) of the Rules provides that details of a notice of meeting lodged with the Inspector-General must be published on a website maintained by the Inspector-General.

  2. Lodgment of notification of first meeting with the Inspector-General

    1. The notification of the first creditor meeting can only be lodged with the Inspector-General using the AFSA online service portal.  The fields within the portal are the form approved by the Inspector-General pursuant to subsection 75-40(2) of the Rules.
    2. The notification should be lodged at least 10 business days before the proposed meeting day.
    3. Trustees are not required to lodge with the Inspector-General a copy of the notice of meeting that they give to creditors.  All that is needed are details of the meeting required by the form accessible in the AFSA online service portal.

  3. Payment and publishing details of the notice of meeting

    1. Details of the meeting will be automatically published and will remain on AFSA’s website for 5 calendar days after the meeting date unless unpublished earlier by the trustee.
    2. There are costs associated with advertising a creditor meeting; consistent with the Australian Government Cost Recovery Guidelines.  The flat fee for creditor meeting advertisement can be found on the fees and charges page on AFSA’s website.
    3. Payment can be made using credit card or monthly invoice, with credit card being the default payment option.  Should credit facility (on account) method be required, practitioners can lodge a credit application with AFSA.  Payment for advertising the first creditor meeting under Part X is separate to the filing fee paid for a section 188 authority.
    4. Meeting advertisements can be found on the creditor meetings page on AFSA’s website.

  4. AFSA’S role

    1. Enforcement and Practitioner Surveillance

    2. Section 12 of the Bankruptcy Act provides the Inspector-General[1] with the power to investigate issues of concern.  Investigations concerning creditor meetings can be instigated by notices lodged for publication, during inspections or through a complaint.  AFSA will examine the level of registered trustees’ compliance with the obligations set out in this practice document and the legislative framework outlined in part 1 above.
    3. Where breaches of these obligations or a lack of record-keeping is identified, the trustee or controlling trustee will be asked to take appropriate remedial action, including a change in practice.

Footnotes

[1] Officers in AFSA’s Enforcement and Practitioner Surveillance division act as delegates of the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy